In the early part of the nineteenth century, largely through the work of the Swede Ling, gymnastic methods derived a great and well deserved popularity in the treatment of postural deformities. Concerned most largely with the treatment of scoliosis, the vogue of gymnastic methods has been deservedly maintained up to the present, even though a sovereign value is no longer attributed to them. At the same time, it had to be recognized that this tribute must be paid to the musculature of the trunk and that all the forms of retentive and corrective appliances formerly in use were, in the end, of little practical value unless both the wasting effects of inactivity and the supportive function of the musculature were taken into account.

The result of the widespread use of gymnastic methods in combating postural shortcomings was to bring about a great interest in them on the part of those